Note: In an environment with multiple compatible VMware products, it is strongly recommended to follow a specific sequence to install and update to the latest patches. See Knowledge Base article 2037630.

Deploy vSphere 5.1 on the ESXi hypervisor architecture

VMware vSphere 5.1 is available exclusively on the vSphere ESXi hypervisor architecture. ESXi is the latest hypervisor architecture from VMware and, as of the vSphere 4.1 release, VMware’s recommended best practice when deploying VMware vSphere. Users can upgrade to ESXi (from ESX) as part of an upgrade to vSphere 5.1.